China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.2 percent year on year in February, the lowest growth since June 2010, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The increase eased from a 4.5-percent rise registered in January, when a shopping spree during the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year boosted retail prices.

The country's CPI climbed 3.9 percent in the first two months compared with the previous year. On a monthly basis, CPI dipped 0.1 percent in February, the NBS said.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, increased 6.2 percent last month from one year earlier. Food price growth also slowed from January's 10.5 percent rise.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2012)